Nanyang Technological University, Singapore

EXCHANGE! EXCHANGE! EXCHANGE!

After chanting this word for the past two years, I am finally on exchange at Nanyang Technological University in Singapore – the Centre of Asia.

My exchange journey started exactly two years ago, I met Minnie Zhu in one of UTS Mentoring Programs where she first said the word “exchange” to me. I was very interested in going on exchange myself and started to investigate the whole process. Trust me if I can overcome the application process anyone can as I had to choose direct equivalent subjects (because of a double degree). After some research and sleepless nights when choosing universities, I picked three and one of them was “Nanyang Technological University (NTU)”. After the initial submission of the application and waiting for some months (as the foreign universities do not start accepting enrolment), I finally got accepted to NTU where I started a new adventure for the next six months.

Nanyang Technological University AKA NTU is a massive city within itself. If you think UNSW is immense, try again cause NTU is so big that all the halls of residence have their own postal code. The university is equipped with some of the best technical equipment, and the buildings are worth just stopping by to look at. One of the buildings is called the “Hive” , and another is “ADM”. These are some of the buildings which grabbed my attention when I first started at NTU.

Hive Building

ADM

Getting around in NTU is convenient as the university provides free bus rides around the campus as it is so huge making it hard to walk everywhere. These buses are very easy to understand, and there is an app for the students to use to keep track of buses. The buses are always on time (Sydney’s transport could pick up a tip or two).

The university has a lot of places to eat at, each residence hall has one canteen which is very affordable. One can eat a whole meal under $SG 3.00 including a drink on campus. There are a variety of cuisines to try such as Korean, Japanese, Indian to name a few.

My accommodation was in one of the newer resident halls which are called “Crescent Halls”. At the top of my blog is an aerial picture of the new halls. Doesn’t it look so pretty from high above?

The study culture in NTU is very different from UTS. In NTU, they promote a lot more self-study rather than face to face study time; I have more tutorial time than lectures. All the lectures are recorded in NTU, and one is supposed to watch them before the class to ensure they know what to expect in the class. All the students are very helpful in guiding you around the university and letting you the know the tricks of NTU. I really like my subjects in NTU, I am gaining new skills with each week passing by. The structure of the subjects is the same as UTS which includes, assignments and exams.

After you step out of NTU, there is so much to explore such as tourist attractions and eating out. I have been to Marina Bay, which is one of the highlights of Singapore. Below is a picture of the Marina Bay. There is so much to do at Marina Bay such as the Merlin Park, Gardens by The Bay, etc.

I have visited more places than other exchange and local students. One of the memorable trips I had was to Little India with a whole bunch of students. We explored the streets and visited the temple and ended up eating at one of the oldest South Indian restaurants in Little India.

In the recess week, I am going to Japan for a week to cover
Tokyo, Osaka and Kyoto. Over the next few weeks during university, I will be
covering, Malaysia, Phuket and Vietnam. After the exchange is over, I will be
covering China and India.

I will be more than happy to help anyone who needs some advice regarding exchange or especially regarding NTU/Singapore. Please don’t hesitate to contact me.

Special thanks to the team at UTS International especially Raffaela for not giving up on me regarding my direct equivalent subjects as I struggled a bit. The team at UTS International is always there for the students to help and make their exchange process easier and simpler.

Hopefully, my journey will inspire other double degree students to take up an exchange during their university life.

Tanvi Singh Bachelor of Business and Bachelor of Science in Information TechnologyNanyang Technological UniversitySingapore